Tornado timeline

A funnel is spotted near Manhattan, indicating to the National Weather Service that it is tracking a “family situation,” or conditions spawning several tornadoes.

5:45 p.m.

A tornado strikes Manhattan, injuring about 60 people.

6:45 p.m.

Another sighting of a tornado is reported west of Auburn.

6:50 p.m.

A Weather Service bulletin warns of heavy thunderstorms moving toward Topeka from the southwest. Reports indicate a funnel touched down 4 miles south and one-half mile east of Dover.

6:56 p.m.

Topeka police officer David Hathaway is dispatched to Burnett’s Mound as part of a “weather watch” and to issue alerts for approaching storms and funnels. Other police officers are sent to the junction of US-75 and US-24 highways; US-75 highway and the Kansas Turnpike; and the Topeka Public Golf Course on the western edge of the city.

7:01 p.m.

WIBW-TV interrupts “Lost in Space” and newsman Bill Kurtis steps in front of the camera to alert viewers of a tornado on the ground that is moving toward Topeka. “For God’s sake, take cover,” he warned.

7:04 p.m.

Hathaway radios from Burnett’s Mound that a tornado funnel, dipping periodically to touch the countryside, is about 12 miles south of Topeka. Sirens are sounded in the city.

7:15 p.m.

Hathaway gives his last report to police headquarters while on Burnett’s Mound, saying the tornado was coming over the back of the mound and heading for the houses and apartments at S.W. 29th and Gage.

7:21 p.m. to 7:24 p.m.

The tornado decimates the Washburn University campus and moves into downtown Topeka, where it damages several businesses and the Capitol dome.

7:24 p.m.

The clock in The Topeka Daily Capital newsroom stops as the tornado roars past the south windows of The Topeka Capital-Journal building at S.E. 6th and Jefferson and power is knocked out.

7:29 p.m.

The funnel brushes past the Weather Service station at Philip Billard Airport.

7:31 p.m.

The tornado exits Topeka by leaping the Kansas River, dissipating and pulling back into the clouds. The injured begin to flood into Stormont-Vail, St. Francis, Veterans Administration, Topeka State and Forbes Air Force Base hospitals.

Sources: The Topeka Daily Capital; The Topeka State Journal; “And Hell Followed With It” by Bonar Menninger